Case Study of Oregon: Exploring Medicaid and SCHIP Enrollment Trends and their Links to Policy and Practice

This case study examines the trends in new Medicaid and SCHIP enrollment in Oregon from 1999 through 2004. In particular, we are interested in exploring the potential links between new enrollment trends and major outreach strategies or policy changes that took place in Oregon at the state and local levels, especially those associated with the CKF grant. Ideally, we would examine such links through a formal impacts analysis that estimates the effect of individual policy changes or outreach efforts on the number of children enrolling in Medicaid or SCHIP. This type of analysis is not possible, however, because many of the outreach efforts and policy changes occurred at the same time. In addition, no state or other geographic area is a defensible comparison group for a more rigorous analysis. The case study approach however, combines exploratory data analysis with in-depth key informant interviews, and allows us to assess the potential influence that major outreach efforts or policy changes have had on new enrollment.